Anna Kendrick Takes on the Antichrist in the ‘Rapturepalooza’ Red Band Trailer

Back in 2011, you may recall a lot of hoopla about the world coming to an end and how the faithful would be spared Armageddon and taken to meet God during the Rapture. Obviously, that didn’t happen. However, that didn’t stop director Paul Middleditch and writer Chris Matheson (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) from satirizing the idea with their film Rapturepalooza.

The low-budget comedy, which has been in development for the past two years, stars Anna Kendrick (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) and John Francis Daley (Bones) as a couple who are trying to make things work in a post-Rapture world, but run into trouble when the Antichrist (played by The Office‘s Craig Robinson) tries to seduce Kendrick’s character.

As you can see from the newly-released red band trailer for the film, the half-baked idea doesn’t seem to work, despite boasting a strong comedic cast (which also includes Rob Corddry, Ana Gasteyer, Ken Jeong, and other comic actors). It’s easy to imagine how a film like this could be successful, perhaps as an apocalyptic parody or a religious satire, but Rapturepalooza looks like it’s missed the mark by going overly broad and crude.

The budget was likely also an issue. The movie, which was conceived under Lionsgate’s relatively new microbudget division, cost only $2 million to produce. To people outside of Hollywood, $2 million probably seems like a lot of money, but in the world of feature film, it is not. That doesn’t mean you can’t be funny on a low budget, but Rapturepalooza‘s big ideas seem constrained by the limited resources.

That being said, the talent involved in this movie could be enough for it to actually find some level of success, especially given its low cost. Personally, however, I’ll be waiting for a couple of other end of the world comedies: Seth Rogen’s This Is The Endand Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright’s The World’s End.

Big ideas aren’t constrained by budget. Two guys can talk in a restaurant for an hour and a half and leave it all to the imagination of the audience. Budgets cramp effects shots.
I don’t think The Rapture is actually in the Bible. It was invented by an English preacher. That apparently doesn’t make any difference though. Like the idea that witches want to create Hell on Earth and witch hunters fought for justice and peace, it makes for goooooooood watchin’.